Striking the right balance

Fortunately, the weather forecast was (once again) incorrect last week, and we had some great weather for aerifying fairways.  But, in case you haven't flipped on the news lately, the region is in a serious rain deficit.  Among other things, this means we have been trying to recover from aerification relying solely on sprinklers.  

Clear skies and another 90 degree day will dry things out.

Until the holes are fully healed, the fairways will need plenty of water, and be very soft.  Similar to an ice cube with a hole in it, which has more surface area to cool your beverage, the unhealed holes have additional surface area from which we can lose moisture.

No irrigation system can provide the uniformity of  rainfall.  Given the fairway mounding, it's not uncommon to have areas which are turning toasty brown just a few feet away from a swale which is too wet, and tracks up from carts.  

Too wet and too dry are not very far apart.

With continued above average temperatures this week, the goal each morning is to start out with enough moisture to get us through the day, and not need to run sprinklers.  We always say, it takes one good rain to get things healed--and this year, an end to the 90s might help as well.  Monday provided us with the largest single rain event in over two months.